By Date


  • 7-October-2010

    English

    Improving Value in Health Care - Measuring Quality

    Are breast cancer survival rates higher in the United States than in the United Kingdom and France? Are a patient's chances of dying within 30 days after admission to a hospital with a heart attack lower in Canada than in Korea? Are surgeons in some countries more likely to leave 'foreign bodies' behind after operations or make accidental punctures or lacerations rates when performing surgery? The need for answers to these kinds of questions and the value of measuring the quality of health care are among the issues addressed in this publication. Many health policies depend on our ability to measure the quality of care accurately. Governments want to increase 'patient-centeredness', improve co-ordination of care, and pay providers of high-quality care more than those who underperform. However, measuring the quality of health care is challenging. The OECD’s Health Care Quality Indicator project has overcome some of the problems, though many remain. If policy makers are serious about improving the body of evidence on the quality of care, they need to improve their health information systems.  This publication describes what  international comparable quality measures  are currently available and how  to link these measures to quality policies such as accreditation, practice  guidelines, pay-for-performance, national safety programmes and quality reporting.

  • 7-October-2010

    English

    Health: Improving healthcare is vital for long-term growth

    With austerity the order of the day in most OECD countries, the public is understandably anxious that budget cuts do as little harm as possible to the services they depend on. Few sectors capture the dilemmas this poses for policymakers quite like healthcare.

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  • 28-September-2010

    English

    Health: Good healthcare at good prices

    Health ministers from OECD countries met in Paris to discuss how to meet urgent short-term fiscal concerns without sacrificing the quality and availability of health care, either now or in the future.

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  • 23-September-2010

    English

    Obesity and the Economics of Prevention - Fit not Fat

    Before 1980, rates were generally well below 10%. They have since doubled or tripled in many countries, and in almost half of the OECD, 50% or more of the population is overweight.  A key risk factor for numerous chronic diseases, obesity is a major public health concern.   This book contributes to evidence-based policy making by exploring multiple dimensions of the obesity problem. It examines the scale and characteristics of the epidemic, the respective roles and influence of market forces and governments, and the impact of interventions. It outlines an economic approach to the prevention of chronic diseases that provides novel insights relative to a more traditional public health approach. The analysis was undertaken by the OECD, partly in collaboration with the World Health Organization. The main chapters are complemented by special contributions from health and obesity experts, including Marc Suhrcke, Tim Lobstein, Donald Kenkel and Francesco Branca. 'a valuable set of results and suggestions about the best preventive interventions to reduce the burden of obesity.'   – Julio Frenk, Dean, Harvard School of Public Health 'The positive message of this book is that the obesity epidemic can be successfully addressed.'   – Ala Alwan, Assistant Director-General, World Health Organization 'innovative and well-researched'  – Martin McKee, Professor, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
    'A timely, valuable volume on a critical issue.  Highly recommended.'-Choice, July 2011    

  • 18-August-2010

    English

    Sickness, Disability and Work: Breaking the Barriers: Sweden - Will the Recent Reforms Make It?

    Sickness and disability is a key economic policy concern for many OECD countries. Medical conditions, or problems labelled as such by societies and policy systems, are proving an increasing obstacle to raising labour force participation and keeping public expenditure under control. More and more people of working age rely on sickness and disability benefits as their main source of income, and the employment rates of those reporting disabling conditions are low. This report is an assessment of the Swedish reforms, which aim to lower inactivity and increase participation, against the background of recent trends and policy responses in other OECD countries. It looks at what Sweden is currently doing and what more it could do to transform its sickness and disability schemes from passive benefits to active support systems that promote work.    

  • 30-July-2010

    English

    Sickness, Disability and Work: Breaking the Barriers: Canada - Opportunities for Collaboration

    Sickness and disability policy reform has been a priority for OECD countries wanting to improve employment and social outcomes in this domain. The recent recession and corresponding fall in labour demand is expected to hit marginalised workers, including workers with health problems or disability, harder than the broader working-age population. There is a pressing need for policy makers to address the recent 'medicalisation' of labour market problems, a phenomenon that appears to underlie much of the difficulties countries find in disability policy making. This report is an assessment of the Canadian situation, albeit through the lens of the federal government and the provinces of Québec, British Columbia and Manitoba. It looks at the current state of play following a decade of various reforms and preceding a period where further revisions are likely.

  • 20-May-2010

    English

    OECD Factbook: Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics

    The OECD Factbook is the best-selling, innovative title from the OECD. It provides a global overview of today’s major economic, social and environmental indicators, presenting them clearly and concisely, and in a range of user-friendly formats.

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  • 8-December-2009

    English

    Expensive health care is not always the best health care, says OECD’s Health at a Glance

    The OECD’s latest edition of Health at a Glance shows that all countries could provide better health care.

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  • 30-September-2009

    English, Excel, 376kb

    Why does the United States spend so much more on health than other countries?

    The United States spent 16% of its national income (GDP) on health in 2007, which is by far, the highest share in the OECD. This presentation was given by Mark Pearson, Head of OECD Health Division, to the U.S Senate Special Committee on Aging.

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  • 1-July-2009

    English

    OECD Health Data 2009 – comparing health statistics across OECD countries

    The number of doctors per capita increased 2% per year on average across OECD countries between 1990 and 2007, but in some countries the trend is reversing.

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